An AVALANCHE WARNING remains in effect for the mountains of northwest Montana including Glacier National Park until Friday morning.
Another beautiful day! Warm temperatures and abundant sunshine will grace the state into the weekend. With warmer temperatures there is an accelerated melt off of snow in the lower elevations. There's a lot of mud where there was snow on the ground. The melting snow will create an increase in water running through rivers and creeks. Ice may become unsafe to walk on, and if the water does break up the ice there is a chance for ice jams. At the present time there are no imminent ice jam situations. The only real issue with the warmth is the threat of wet sluff avalanches on the south facing slopes in the mountains. Although only northwest Montana is under an AVALANCHE WARNING, slides are possible through many of the state's mountain ranges.
Friday could be the warmest day of this stretch with highs in the upper 50's to the mid 60's. While these highs are warm, they are still about 10-15 degrees cooler than the record highs for the day. The weekend will start out warm with highs in 50s and 60s by Saturday afternoon. Later in the afternoon, a cold front will move into western Montana kicking off some showers, mountain snow showers and perhaps an isolated thunderstorm or two. Please keep an eye to the sky while you're out enjoying the springlike weather. A few showers and snow showers will move through Saturday night but clear by Sunday morning. Sunday will be a pleasant day with highs in the 40s to around 50, skies will be mostly sunny to partly cloudy. Changes are in the works late on Monday as a new storm will produce a mix of rain and snow as the precipitation starts. Gradually the precipitation will transition to all snow, and the snow could continue through Tuesday and into Wednesday. Stay tuned for more as we get closer to the storm. Colder than average temperatures with snow showers are likely for Thursday and Friday as well. Winter is not over with yet!
Have a great day.
Curtis Grevenitz
Chief Meteorologist
